an afternoon wedding at Magens Bay with a GENDER REVEAL

YES, YOU READ RIGHT… AN AFTERNOON WEDDING AT MAGENS BAY BEACH WITH A GENDER REVEAL.

I can’t even begin to put into words how much I adored planning Laura and Graig’s intimate cruise ship destination wedding in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. From our first email, I fell in love with this fantastic couple. Together for 10 years, Laura and Graig wanted to make it official before the birth of their first child.

At the time, I was about 85 months pregnant my second child and due in a matter of weeks. I really wasn’t taking on new clients, but Laura and I had an instant connection and an understanding on both sides – emails and wedding planning, while very important, was not at the top of either of our lists.

According to our plan, we would map it all out, make all the decisions in the next two weeks, and not let the planning linger. Then, when I returned to work (and her morning sickness ended) we’d pull together the final details.

It all took a bit longer than anticipated since most of our calls devolved into dicussions about nursery decor, ideas on how to get babies to sleep, and worries about the big changes on the horizon in both of our lives. But Laura and I finally put the finishing touches on her wedding day. It was time to literally put our feet up and relax.

A few months later, Laura, Graig and their closest family and friends arrived to St. Thomas on the Carnival Liberty cruise ship for a late afternoon wedding ceremony, at Magens Bay beach. It was a perfect day with glorious weather, and most importantly, a radiant bride.

Take a look at the awesome photos by Megan Biggs Photography.

SO LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS GENDER REVEAL

For those of you who don’t know what that is, a gender reveal is a party where you reveal the gender of your baby. Sometimes it’s just a surprise for guests, but most often it’s a surprise for the parents-to-be as well.

Basically, everyone gathers around and you pop a balloon with pink or blue confetti inside. Or you open a box and out floats blue or pink balloons.

Get it?

But balloons and confetti are a no-go on the beach. And let’s keep it real, I’M WAY MORE CREATIVE THAN THAT!

When Laura mentioned revealing the gender after the ceremony, I suggested that she let me handle the details and surprise her as well.

It was so much fun playing super spy with Kristin, Laura’s sister, and an unknown but amazing ultrasound tech who resides somewhere in the mountains of central Pennsylvania.

Here’s how it went down:

Just days before the cruise, Laura had her mid-pregnancy ultrasound and the technician sealed the results in an envelope. Laura passed them along to Kristen, who called me with the big news.

While Laura was as cool as a bride-whose-wedding-is-finally-planned cucumber, Graig was anxious to know.

I’M ACTUALLY QUITE TERRIBLE WITH SECRETS, SO I TOLD LAURA THAT FROM THEN ON OUT – RADIO SILIENCE. I WOULD SEE HER ON HER WEDDING DAY AND SHE WOULD NOT INADVERTENTLY GET ANY CLUES AS TO WHETHER I WAS TICKLED PINK OR TICKLED BLUE.

While setting up the wedding, I left little clues around – a sign in blue, a pink drink umbrella the bar, blue sand in their unity sand ceremony and quite a few other details along the way.

But once I received the word from Kristen, I called the bakery and requested that they tint the inside of the cake accordingly.

But you’ll have to keep scrolling to find out how this story ends.

My husband and I would like to express how grateful we are for all that you did to make our big day so special. We are all still reminiscing over how amazing everything looked and all the little details that made it beachy chic.

We want to thank both you and your husband for giving us the wedding of our dreams. We hope to come back to your exotic island someday for a family vacation with hopes of seeing you all again.